Rare Bird Report 42-B-09
IDAHO BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE
RARE BIRD REPORT FORM
SPECIES: Chestnut-sided Warbler
HOW MANY: 1
REPORTER: J. Battalio
REPORTER EMAIL:
OTHER OBSERVERS: Found by Bruce Ackerman on Sunday June 7, 2009.
Reported same day by Jim Holcomb and Cheryl Huizinga--I met them at Foote Park.
DATE REPORT PREPARED: Tuesday, June 9, 2009 DATE SIGHTING OCCURRED: Sunday, June 7, 2009
LOCALITY OF OBSERVATION: Foote Park, Lucky Peak Dam Area, Boise, Ada County, ID
43°31'22.10"N
116° 3'41.70"W
HABITAT: Foothills habitat. Sagebrush slopes down to creek drainage to Boise River. Bird foraging in medium-sized shrubs up to c. 10 feet near footpath and creek.
CONDITIONS: Discovered while walking along trail as it continued northward along the creek and up the east-facing slope. Seen at eye level at 7:40 p.m. for about 5 minutes at 20-25 feet with 10x40 binoculars. Mostly clear skies. Sun low over foothills, so good lighting, no glare. Winds calm.
DID YOU TAKE NOTES?: Yes, during the observation
DID YOU CONSULT FIELD GUIDE OR OTHER REFERENCES?: Yes, later the same day
WHAT GUIDE(S) OR REFERENCE(S) DID YOU CONSULT?:National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of Western North American, 2008 copyright. Used to check occurrence map, not to verify sighting.
DESCRIPTION: Initial view: warbler in size, overall appearance, and behavior.
Singing: Heard the typical Chestnut-sided call: "Please, please, pleased to meetcha," which it repeated numerous times during the observation.
>From notes taken during and immediately after observation:
1. Adult male, breeding plumage.
2. Cap: lemon yellow
3. Black through eye, extending underneath and slightly past eye
4. Black whisker marks along both sides of face
5. Face otherwise white
6. Underside white except for distinct chestnut streaks extending about half way down both flanks.
7. Upperside generally blackish with black streaking. Some random yellowish streaking also noticed on lower back.
7. Two faintly yellow wing bars
8. When bird briefly stretched its left wing, light yellowish webbing visible.
BEHAVIOR:
Singing ("Please please pleased to meetcha" melody) and foraging alongside trail on east-facing slope in c. 10-foot vegetation. Bird stayed generally at eye level. For the first couple of minutes, it was identifiable and mostly visible but was moving in and out of leaves and branches. At one point, it flew onto a dead branch of one of the shrubs and stayed fully in view for about 2 minutes before flying to an adjacent shrub, where it went into the shrubbery before coming out again for another brief view and then flew across the trail into the shrubbery along the creek.
HOW AND WHEN DID YOU POSITIVELY IDENTIFY THE BIRD, AND WHAT CLINCHED THE IDENTIFICATION FOR YOU?
Immediately. I located it by hearing its call. When I saw it in the shrub, it was facing me, and I could see its lemon cap, white undersides, and chestnut sides.
HOW DID YOU ELIMINATE SIMILAR SPECIES, AND WHAT WERE THEY?
Bruce Ackerman had emailed about five hours earlier of the bird's presence. Upon arrival at about 5:30 pm, I met Jim Holcomb and Cheryl Huizinga coming down the trail; they had seen the bird within the hour, so I was already looking specifically for it. When located two hours later, I observed it calling at the same time I was looking at it with my binoculars. Given the circumstances, I don't recall having to eliminate anything. It was evident what it was.
EXPERIENCE WITH THIS SPECIES (AND SIMILAR SPECIES): I am from the South and birded for 20 years or so along the lower Mississippi River between the mid 1970s and 1990s. I saw chestnut-sided warblers frequently most, if not all, spring migrations. I have seen them occasionally since then.
Coincidentally, I had just returned a few days before this sighting from a week in North Carolina, where part of the time I was in the Blue Ridge Mountains and found this species several times along parkway pullovers and Max Patch Road north of I-40.
GENERAL BIRDING EXPERIENCE: 50 years birding. Level: Advanced.
WERE PHOTO(S), VIDEO, AND/OR AUDIO OBTAINED BY YOU?: None